Peters



S. A. MILLARD. Scythe-Blade.

No. 227,033. Patented April 27,1880.

WITNE S: l:/ INVENTOR: (2. Wm r damM/WZW ATTORNEYS.

N- PETERS. PHOTO-LITHQGRAPHEI. WASHINGTON D. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

STERLING A. MILLARD, OF OLAYVILLE, NEW YORK.

SCYTH E-BLAD E.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 227,033, dated April 2'7, 1880.

Application filed December 31, 1879.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, STERLING A. MILLARI), of Olayville, in the county of Oneida and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Scythe-Blade, of which the following is a specification.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the blade. Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional elevation on line 00 m. Fig. 1. Fig. 3 represents a modification of the shape of the blade.

Similar letters of reference indicate corre sponding parts.

The object of this invention is to provide a scythe-blade that, containing much less weight of metal, shall possess equal or greater strength than the ordinary scythe-blades. The scytheblade is made in the usual manner from what is termed by scythe-makers a scythe-rod, and is wrought and shaped in such form that a proper thickness is left to serve as the back of the blade, which thickness or rib is relied upon by scythe-manufacturers to give the required lateral stifi'ness to the blade; but this back rib rarely gives the necessary lateral inflexibility or stifi'ness to the blade, and also fails to afford sufficient resistance to torsional strain.

My invention consists in constructing a scythe-blade with a longitudinal auxiliary rib or supplementaiu back, which forms an obtuse angle transversely with the flat inner or cutting portion of the blade, and also with the flat web'that intervenes between said rib and the back proper, whereby the scythe is stiffcned to the requisite degree without requiring the same weight of metal as those of the usual construction.

In the drawings, A indicates the flat inner cutting portion of the scythe, and a and I), respectively, the back rib proper and the supplementary or auxiliary back. The latter is form ed by the angle of the fiat cutting portion or blade proper, A, and the broad flat web cto each other-that is to say, the part A has a transverse inclination of about fifteen degrees to the part 0. so that the rib b has an obtuse angle with relation to both.

. This construction has been found to yield an important result-namely, it enables a scytheblade to be made very light at the same time that it is rendered very stifl' and strong, so that it will resist the torsional strain incident to use, which result is practicallya desideratum of first importance.

In rare instancesas when unusual strength is reqnired-I may form one ormore small lengthwise corrugations in the middle of the web 0, as shown in Fig. 3. What I claim is As a new and improved article of manufacture, a scythe provided with a longitudinal rib or supplementary back, I), which has an obtuse angle to the flat cutting portion A and to the flat web 0, which joins the back proper, a, said blade being also at a transverse angle to the web, as shown and described, for the purpose specified.

STERLING A. MILLARD.

Witnesses:

H. M. S'cHEUoH, E. B. Ross. 

